The present invention relates to a phase change memory.
Phase change memories use a class of materials that have the property of switching between two phases having distinct electrical characteristics, associated with two different crystallographic structures of the material and variations thereof, such as an amorphous, disordered phase and a crystalline or polycrystalline, ordered phase. The two phases are hence associated to resistivities of considerably different values where the more disordered phases are higher in resistivity and the crystalline phases are lower in resistivity.
Currently, the alloys of elements of group VI of the periodic table, such as Te or Se, referred to as chalcogenides or chalcogenic materials, can be used advantageously in phase change memory cells. The currently most promising chalcogenide is formed from an alloy of Ge, Sb and Te (Ge2Sb2Te5), which is now widely used for storing information on overwritable disks and has also been proposed for mass storage.
In the chalcogenides, the resistivity may vary by two or more orders of magnitude when the material passes from the amorphous (more resistive) phase to the crystalline (more conductive) phase, and vice versa.
Phase change can be obtained by locally increasing the temperature. Below 150° C., both the phases are relatively stable, although there is some tendency over a period years at 150 C for the reset amorphous state to crystallize, thereby lowering its resistance. Starting from an amorphous state, and rising the temperature above 200° C., there is a rapid nucleation of the crystallites and, if the material is kept at the crystallization temperature for a sufficiently long time, it undergoes a phase change and becomes crystalline. To bring the chalcogenide back to the amorphous state, it is necessary to raise the temperature above the melting temperature (approximately 600° C.) and then rapidly cool off the chalcogenide.